Straight Talk From Ed Welburn: Don’t Screw Up the Corvette’s Redesign

General Motor’s Vice President of Global Design Ed Welburn recently spoke with Automotive News while he was in Frankfurt and the subject of the Corvette’s redesign came up. Specifically, Welburn talked about the difficulty in designing a new Corvette, which has 58 years of history and a very loyal fan base.

?Everyone wants to design a Corvette, but it is hard work,? Welburn said. ?Finding that right balance? is a challenge, he added. ?You want it to be a new design, but it needs to be recognizable as a Corvette.?

Welburn spoke with Automotive News while in Frankfurt for the 64th Annual IAA, better known as the Frankfurt Motor Show.

GM’s design chief said that the new Corvette must have a wider appeal while noting today’s Corvette was ?nice? but ‘sales are very weak.? The redesigned Corvette will make ?a bit of a shift to appeal to younger customers.? Welburn didn’t comment on what that appeal needed to be.

The next generation Corvette is expected to be ready in 2013 as a 2014 model year. As that date looms, there is an overriding thought in the back of Welburn’s mind: